Cracked
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: After Jo loses her second house, she finally cracks. Luckily, she has Zane. Jo/Zane. Set post "Reprise".


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Eureka and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

**Author's Note**: I still can't believe Jo's second house burned down. It seems like everything has gone wrong for her this season. I'm convinced she's taken over the position as woobie from Henry. And I'm honestly surprised Jo hasn't cracked yet, so I wrote this. Hope you enjoy! This was also written for LJ's eureka_tag challenge.

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><p>Jo Lupo and Zane Donovan kissed for a few more minutes, before they reluctantly pulled apart. "That was nice," he murmured.<p>

"It was." Then Jo burst into sobs. She had loved kissing Zane again and she wanted to be with him so much, but the loss of yet another house was hitting her.

"Jo-Jo? Are you okay?" He pulled her for in a hug and let her cry.

"I'm sorry. And I know it's not technically your fault because it was the stupid song, but you burned my house down and now I'm homeless again and I don't know what to do!" She continued to cry.

He pulled her in for a hug and started rubbing Jo's back to calm her down. "You're okay. Calm down, Baby. I am really sorry for this, by the way. I normally never would have done this." Zane felt extremely guilty for causing Jo to lose this house, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever forgive himself for it. And luckily for him, she hadn't said anything about the "Baby" slip. He wasn't sure where that had come from.

Jo continued to sob in his arms. "I know you are. I forgive you, Zane." She really did. And she had noticed the "Baby". Zane had called her that only a few times in the original timeline – When she was upset, when they were alone, and right after they made love. She secretly loved it.

"You want to go somewhere? Drop you off at Carter's place?" Zane rubbed her back some more.

Her breath hitched and the sobs finally began to die down. "I guess I need somewhere to stay again. Can I go to your apartment? I don't want to do anything, though."

"Of course we don't have to do anything. Come on, let's go." Zane grabbed her hand and led his girlfriend away. They were at his apartment a few minutes later. He handed her a shirt to sleep in.

Jo tried not to show him how much that had affected her. Zane had given the same shirt in the original timeline. It was one of her favorites. The gesture made her tear up again, but Zane distracted her by making a really stupid joke. She appreciated that gesture so much that she ended up crying again anyway a few seconds after that. He hugged her again until the tears stopped again.

Although it was potentially awkward, Jo and Zane slipped into his bed together. She cuddled up to him, and he happily left her. "Go to sleep, Jo-Jo. Everything will be better tomorrow, okay? I promise."

"Okay." Jo didn't really think so, but she was willing to take his word for it for the time being. She fell asleep in her boyfriend's arms and felt normal for the first time in months. When she woke up in the morning, Zane was staring at her.

"Hey there, beautiful. How are you feeling?" Zane had woken up about half an hour earlier, and after a trip to the bathroom, had returned to the bed. He figured Jo wouldn't handle it too well if he had been gone.

"Semi-better." Jo still felt down and she hated it. Everything had finally come crashing down on her. It was nice to have Zane back, but that was the only good thing that had happened in a long time.

"Well, that's good. What do you say we go to Café Diem for breakfast and then head into work?" He didn't really believe Jo about her feeling better, but he was willing to let the lie slide for the time being.

"Okay. Thanks for last night. I appreciate you not trying anything." She headed for the shower, where she broke down again. Jo hated crying so much, but she guessed she had finally cracked.

Zane tried his best to ignore the crying coming from his bathroom, but it was hard. He was worried about Jo. He hated the fact that he had burned her house down and broken her. When Jo came out of the bathroom, he apologized to her again. She accepted it and told him that it was okay.

They headed to Café Diem and had a pleasant breakfast. Luckily, Jo didn't cry once. It was nice to feel normal. After breakfast was over, Jo and Zane went to work at Global Dynamics. He kissed her before sending her off to handle a minor crisis. "This is awesome, Lupo," he murmured when they pulled apart.

"It is." Jo wanted to tell Zane she loved him (Because she did love this version, too.), but she wasn't sure if he felt the same way, so she hesitated.

Zane turned around when he was halfway to the elevators. "Hey, Jo-Jo?"

She turned up to stare at him. "Yeah?"

"I love you, too." He smiled at the look of shock on her face and joined the others in the elevator.

Despite her own mood, Jo beamed. Zane did love her, although she had no clue why. She had treated him so badly since the day she had arrived. She rushed off to fix the minor crisis she had forgotten about, and then met up with her boyfriend for lunch after several major crises.

"I've had a crappy day." Allison had a minor headache and she rubbed her forehead.

"I lost another house." Jo hadn't meant to snap, but her friend hadn't been through what she had since the timeline change.

"Jo-Jo, calm down." Zane grabbed her hand and she melted. Jo couldn't help it – It's what he did to her. She apologized to her friend and was grateful when Allison accepted. She couldn't help but notice that Allison was acting a little odd, however. Jo filed that thought away for later.

The day improved for Jo, although she still felt like crying at random intervals. Especially when it was time to go home and she had nowhere to go again. "I can't impose on you again, Zane. We've only been together for a day. I'll just go to Carter's and talk with S.A.R.A.H tonight. It's fine."

"I don't think the house is going to be good at making you feel better when you fall apart again." And Zane had a bad feeling she was going to cry herself to sleep. Jo had been distracted all day, and it was obvious she was on the verge of tears about everything. He was worried about her mental state and hated himself for causing it in the first place. Why had he listened to that stupid song? If he had been listening to anything else, maybe he wouldn't have burned her house down.

"This is true. Fine, I'll go with you." Jo went to Carter's to grab her clothes (Luckily, she had left some there and hadn't lost everything this time around.) and then followed him back to his apartment.

"So you want to watch a movie? I'll find one that won't make you cry." Zane was determined to cheer her up.

"Sure, I guess." Jo sat down next to him and snuggled with Zane. The movie made her feel only a little better, but the depression that had plagued her since the timeline change acted up again once it was over.

They went to bed after Zane made her watch another comedy to help her feel better. Jo felt infinitely better with her boyfriend holding her, but she still felt like crying. When she was sure that Zane was asleep, she lost the battle against the tears and cried out the pain of everything that had occurred since Founders Day.

Zane woke up because he was a light sleeper and comforted her as best as he could. He murmured to her softly to get Jo to stop. "I'm not leaving, Baby. Shhh. Calm down. You're going to be okay. I know losing another house upset you, but you can't let it affect you like this. It's not healthy. I want you to see Allison in the morning. Can you do that for me?" Zane was worried Jo might be suffering from clinical depression and his theory didn't surprise him. Jo had been through so much, and anyone else would have cracked weeks ago.

"Sure." Jo didn't want to go to the infirmary to see Allison, but she thought Zane's idea was a good one.

"I'll be right there with you, so don't worry about that. Love you, Jo-Jo."

"Love you, too." She smiled through the tears and fell asleep a few minutes later. Zane made sure she was asleep before he fell asleep again.

Jo Lupo's world had crashed down on her earlier, but with Zane's help and a little bit of therapy, things started to look up.

In burning down her house, Zane had saved her.


End file.
